While the sights and sounds may have seemed the same, there were definitely some differences from the Catamounts' team that went 0-19 last season.

Fifteen to be exact.

Seeking to reboot a program that won just two games in the last two years, UVM welcomed an entire new coaching staff — head coach Kate Pfeifer and assistant coaches Kyle Lyons and Melyssa Woods — and 12 new players.

Under the guidance of first-year head coach Kate Pfeifer, the Vermont Field Hockey team preps for a bounce-back 2014 campaign.

"I want Vermont field hockey moving in a better direction than it has in the last few years and it's all starting now, with this preseason," said captain Ashley McDonald. "We really want to bring a different culture to the program."

Pfeifer, who came to UVM after eight years on the coaching staff at Northeastern, saw a lot of opportunity with the Catamount program.

"I think that there is a real opportunity here, I really do," the University of Michigan graduate said. "I think that it's a beautiful college campus, it's a beautiful town, it's a fun town, it's a wonderful school academically, strong athletic traditions, and I think that there is a real opportunity to win here."

Pfeifer and her staff took a three-pronged approach to the task of revamping the program. First, the team focused on conditioning, making sure the athletes are in shape and avoiding early season injuries.

"The fitness aspect has been an emphasis point, it is really important physiologically, our game has changed a lot in the last couple of years," Pfeifer said. "That was a big emphasis point and one that (the players) really rose to the occasion on and came in fit and ready to go."

Fitness and conditioning has also been worked into practice, making more the sessions quicker and more upbeat.

"The tempo of practice, we are playing like we are supposed to be playing in a game," said junior Aria Robinson of some of the changes that the new coaching staff has brought. "Practices are intense and fast and focusing on skill with speed."

Practice sessions for the Catamounts are also filled with a focus on the fundamentals, another part of Pfeifer's three-pronged approach.

"One of the things that (the players) didn't have a whole lot of confidence with was possessing the ball individually," Pfeifer said. "That's something that they have improved a lot on."

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Taylor Gaines bounces a ball on her stick as the University of Vermont’s field hockey team practice in Burlington on Aug. 18.
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With such a large group of incoming players, the coach focused on teaching the technical skills to the whole group.

"The coaches know how to go back to the basics," McDonald said. "To teach us the skills we need to progress further into more complicated and complex stuff"

The 'more complicated and complex' is part of the third prong, tactics.

"We are really making sure that they are students of the game," Pfeifer said. "We're working quite a bit on our ball movement, our movement from the midfield into the attacking zone, making sure that we get quality opportunities in the attack zone."

Pfiefer has brought an "Attack 30" mindset to the team, pushing players to create opportunities when they are in the attacking zone on the field.

"We want to make sure that every opportunity we have in the attack 30 zone, we are coming up with something, some kind of result," Pfeifer said. "Whether it's a corner, a shot on goal, a goal. But an opportunity, we are not just giving away careless possession in our attacking zone."

While the results of the changes the new coaching staff has implemented have yet to be seen on the field — UVM opens the season at home on Friday against Providence — both players and coaches mentioned an excitement that surrounds the team.

"Everyone is on the same level," Robinson said. "Everything is positive. As soon as (the new coaches) came in the spring, there was this huge relief and a huge refresh of the team. We can focus on what's coming."

McDonald said the team's upperclassmen — three seniors and four juniors — are focused on bringing that renewed energy into the regular season and helping to instill this new culture into the program.

"We have to be prepared and have to know what we want because we have 12 newcomers that are looking at us to set the example," McDonald said.

The new direction that the coaching staff is looking to take the program in has led to some lofty goals.

"We are hoping to win half of our games, go .500 on the season," Pfeifer said. "We also want to qualify for the America East championships, which means winning at least two of our conference games."

While the bar may seem high for a team that has not won a conference game since 2008, coach and players insist that this is just the beginning for UVM field hockey.

"The whole program is going to get turned around," McDonald said. "It's not all going to happen in one year, it's going to be a process but this is the start of something that's going to be pretty amazing for the program."

Contact Lauren Read at 660-1855 or lread@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/laurenreadVT